IN THE heart of south-western New South Wales, sheep and cattle farmer Colin McCrabb is waging a quiet war against a destructive and elusive enemy -feral pigs.
Operating a 6800-hectare property in Wanganella, Mr McCrabb has seen firsthand the damage these pests can inflict.
“We found pigs causing problems with predation of ewes and lambs, so we were in touch with Local Land Services to see what we could do,” he said.
Since joining the Feral Pig and Pest Program more than two years ago, Mr McCrabb has transformed his approach to pest control.
With support from Local Land Services, he’s implemented a combination of trapping and permanent baiting stations equipped with real-time monitoring.
“Baiting is a great option for us because it’s passive and to be honest I’ve been really surprised by the number of pigs we’ve had,” Mr McCrabb said.
“You don’t think you have any on your property until you set it up and see what is actually going on. We’ve removed hundreds since we started our control program.”
Mr McCrabb said the impact had been significant.
Since 2023, more than 200 feral pigs have been removed from his property, reducing threats to livestock and improving biosecurity.
“The support from Local Land Services is fantastic,” he said.
“My message to others who don’t think they have a pig problem is you will be surprised what you discover once you start looking for them. The predation and damage of pigs is horrendous, plus the biosecurity risks are very real, so we are doing anything we can to put a stop to that.”
LLS Feral Pig coordinator Bec Gray emphasised the importance of a multi-pronged approach.
“When it comes to feral pigs and pest animal control, unfortunately there’s no silver bullet,” she said.
“That’s why we need to support the use of multiple control methods, such as baiting, trapping and shooting.”
Ms Gray said pigs don’t respect boundaries and urged landholders to work together. “They move across landscapes and cause widespread damage. That’s why we’re encouraging landholders to team up, plan strategically and use the free bait and grain available across all 11 Local Land Services regions.”
“This isn’t just about individual properties, it’s about community-wide action. The more unified the response, the greater the success.”
